Mayor de Blasio has announced the opening of a new quarter-mile, two-way protected bike lane along Delancey Street on the Lower East Side. The stretch connects to the Williamsburg Bridge, the most traveled by cyclists of all the East River crossings, and is “expected to play a central role during the shutdown of L train service between Brooklyn and Manhattan” when it begins on April 27th. Currently, 7,300 cyclists cross the Bridge each day, and the Mayor expects the new bike lanes to double or even triple that number.

Delancey Street is a critical point for de Blasio since it saw 24 serious traffic injuries and two fatalities, both pedestrians, between 2012 and 2016, making it a key focus of the Mayor’s Vision Zero initiative. Not only will the new bike lanes connect to the Williamsburg Bridge bike path, but also with the Allen Street/1st Avenue/Pike Street lanes and the Chrystie Street/2nd Avenue protected lanes. According to the press release, the “DOT added a Jersey barrier to protect the lane along the south side of the median between Allen and Clinton Streets, as well as a first-of-its-kind ‘bike island’ at the intersection of Allen and Delancey Streets.”